


Never Living it Down

by NebulousMistress



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Gen, Routine Mission, antics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-28
Updated: 2017-02-28
Packaged: 2018-09-27 10:55:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10016531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NebulousMistress/pseuds/NebulousMistress
Summary: Botanists usually don't have to worry about being eaten by their subjects of study.





	

He was never going to live this down.

There was a reason this section of the grassland had been so overgrown. There was a reason the grazing animals kept away despite the obvious glut of food here. There was a reason there were no bird sounds or small animal scratchings here despite the perfect hiding spots.

David Parrish struggled in the grip of that reason.

He'd been exploring the overgrowth, fascinated by the tall stalks and sweet-smelling flowers. Insects abounded, small flying insects that buzzed around him while he studied and cataloged and stepped further in.

The trap was unexpected. He'd never heard of carnivorous plants large enough to eat much more than a frog or a bird, certainly nothing like this. At first his foot stepped into a sudden nothing, throwing him off-balance. He'd fallen forward to his knees and found the ground much less solid than expected. Beneath a thin weaving of air roots the space below was filled with a sticky substance that smelled sickeningly like nectar. He pulled at his hands, tried to back away, but his movements only alerted the plant to his presence and the whole overgrowth shifted. He remembered an involuntary scream, a gush of fluid, an overwhelming sweetness, then a green twilight.

Lay still, he thought to himself. It was easier said than done. David was half-submerged in trap-nectar with the consistency of corn syrup. If he moved or struggled he only succeeded in spreading the fluid around, entrapping him more. He'd already tried his radio, he only succeeded in sticking his own hand to the side of his face. The smell was getting to him.

At least it wasn't digesting him. Yet. Maybe it was waiting for him to die. Maybe it expected him to struggle and thrash until he exhausted himself or drowned. Maybe if he stayed still the plant would think its catch was inedible and let him go. Carnivorous plants on Earth would let go of non-food items, no reason to waste resources on digesting the indigestible, maybe this one would too.

Yeah, right, he had no way of getting out of this thing unnoticed, not with all this sticky stuff.

A squeal in his ear made him twitch, the closest he could get to a jump in this trap. The nectar must have gotten into the casing of his radio. That meant the others were looking for him. David took a deep breath, sneezed at the sweet-tasting air, then tried again.

“In here!” he shouted.

An answering shout sounded so far away.

“In here!” he shouted again. “In the overgrowth!”

David struggled to get his other hand free. Sticky nectar dripped all down his arm and side as he lifted his hand above him. It touched the cover of the plant's trap just above his head. He pushed then decided not to when he slid further into the pool of nectar. “HELP!” he shouted.

He could hear something right outside. He scratched his hand against the trap cover, hoping to cause some sort of noise, some indication of--

A sliver of light shone in as fingers curled under the lid of the trap cover and pulled up.

“Oh thank God, I'm in here,” he called.

The light vanished.

“Dammit!” David shouted.

There came an answering shout from outside, muffled by the trap. “I need more oomf. Stay there.”

David made a face at the direction of Lorne's voice. 'Stay there' where else was he going to go? He tried to relax but decided that was a bad idea when he slid down a little more. His feet had nothing to push against and the inside of the plant's trap was both smooth and slimy-wet. The trap-nectar must be getting to him because it was growing hard to think of anything but cloying sweetness. He thought he could see beads of nectar dripping from the walls around him, slowly filling the small space. He hoped it wasn't enzymes, not yet, or better yet maybe he was imagining it. He certainly chose to believe it was his imagination when felt the level of trap-nectar rising around him.

He had no idea how long it'd been when the light came back as metal hooks were threaded under the cover's lip and pierced into the green flesh. The sound of a winch widened that light and Lorne looked in.

“What the hell?” Lorne asked.

David blinked up at him, slow and dreamily. “Plant's trying to eat me,” he said.

“A plant is trying to eat you.” Lorne's deadpanned statement was accompanied by muffled snickers outside.

David ignored half his team laughing at him. “Yes it is. This stuff is really sticky, think you can get me out?”

The trap wasn't very deep at all. One of the large native grazing animals would fill the trap in its entirety while David had more than enough space to spread out if he were so inclined. Heavy sweet fumes wafted out of the trap, leaving Lorne light-headed even as he reached in to grab David's arms.

It was a slow escape filled with struggling and swearing and a few harrowing moments when the trap cover stretched the cables as it tried to close on twice the prey. Lorne pulled while David pushed with feet that slipped and slid and stuck, the both of them foggy at the stench of the sweet sweet trap-nectar that held and flowed and dripped down the inside of the trap cover.

And then it was over. David half-lay on his rescuer, both of them exhausted and fuzzy-headed. Lorne sat up in the overgrowth, pulling David up with him. Sticky nectar clung to them both like glue, long strands of it stretching between David and everything else.

David Parrish looked around him. There was a jumper, a whole rescue team, a pair of steel hooks threaded through the cover of the trap. Reed and Walker were there, both of them looking like this was just another normal mission. Reed even grinned and gave him a thumbs-up.

“I am never living this down, am I?” David asked.

“A plant tried to eat you,” Lorne said. “You are never living this down.”

David nodded, resigned. “Well, I'm alive. And gross. Mission over?”

Lorne got up and pulled a steel hook from the trap cover. He ducked as the other hook tore free, the cover slamming closed over its empty trap.

“Mission over,” Lorne agreed. “Let's go.”

David stood on unsteady legs and stumbled out of the overgrowth. He was never living this down. At least, not until AR-1 got themselves into trouble again.


End file.
